Good Question

Bad behavior will come out and those responsible should be held accountable. Ryan Grenoble asks:

What’s the difference between Harvey Weinstein and [Fuckface von Clownstick]?

According to Republican National Committee Chair Ronna Romney, only one of them should be criticized for sexually harassing women, and it’s not the president.

Weinstein has been fired by his board of directors.

Update (October 13):  It really is hard to tell the difference in the accusations.

Women describe a man who coerced them into unwanted physical contact ― and got away with it because ultimately, he was powerful and famous and they were not.

Update (October 17):  Rob Okun quotes Eve Ensler.

I am over the passivity of good men. Where the hell are you? You live with us, make love with us, father us, befriend us, brother us, get nurtured and mothered and eternally supported by us, so why aren’t you standing with us?

Update (October 21):  Andrew O'Hehir attempts a response.

In effect, I have respected the masculine code that protected Harvey Weinstein and thousands or millions of other men who are less famous or perhaps less egregious. I told myself I didn’t approve of it and I assured myself I wasn’t like that, but I didn’t actually do anything about it. And I know — again, with zero fear of being wrong — that I was not alone. That’s what has to end, if we are to begin to unravel the dark pattern in the carpet. I’m not saying I know how to make that happen. It’s not quite like flipping a light switch, is it, guys?

Update (November 12):  Liz Posner describes a PRRI study.

Broken down politically, Republican men are the least interested in domestic violence (33 percent) and Democratic women are the most (57 percent).

Update (November 14):  To their credit, more Republican Senators say they believe the women accusing Roy Moore of sexual misconduct. Just don't ask about you-know-who.

“Look, we’re talking about the situation in Alabama,” McConnell told HuffPost, when asked about [Fuckface's] accusers. “I’d be happy to address that if there are any further questions.”

Update (November 16):  It is disappointing to hear about the accusations against Senator Franken. Was it as bad as what von Clownstick and Moore are accused of? There is a spectrum--it may be hard to say. He may have to take one for the team. Imagine the pressure on Republicans like Fuckface if Franken does resign.

Update (November 19):  The notion that a Franken resignation would pressure Republicans suffers from what Andrew O'Hehir calls "an old-fashioned faith in the shared perception of reality".

[Von Clownstick's] supporters, like Roy Moore’s supporters, either believe the accusations against their hero are lies spread by the “fake news” liberal media or believe that they are true but do not matter, because they reflect deeper truths about the nature of men and women and sexuality. In some sense they may believe both things at once, because they have been conditioned to the idea that nothing is true and nothing matters, and that “reality” is a subjective, emotional phenomenon we create for ourselves. There is no political solution for that.

Update (November 22):  Dear Leader isn't too concerned about allegations against Roy Moore.

I can tell you one thing for sure: We don't need a liberal person in there.

And in response to whether "an accused child molester better than a Democrat?"

Look, he denies it. And by the way, he totally denies it.

So some of the accusations are going to be more serious than others and there were already plenty of reasons not to vote for Moore. In terms of the lengthening list of stories, William Kaufman suggests some sense of proportionality.

So this is not just a moral panic—but a bizarre inversion of values ...

[T]he long-buried, freshly unearthed ego bruises of the privileged identity-politics crowd eclipse mass murder and ecocide on the outrage meters of this country’s opinion shapers. The same solemn cohort ... is so easily roused to near-apoplexy about a naughty lunge of the hand or tongue yet discreetly ignores or openly cheers on unparalleled crimes against humanity.

Update (November 26):  Emily Peck reports that executive orders are making the reporting sexual harassment more difficult for women.

Update (December 6):  Congratulations to Fuckface von Clownstick for inspiring dozens of women to confront sexual harassment and assault.

Update (December 7):  Senator Al Franken has been compelled to resign after more than 30 Democratic Senators called on him to do so in face of additional accusations. But he makes a salient point in his speech to the Senate.

[T]here is some irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns for the Senate with the full support of his party.

Cenk Uygur agrees there should be no double standard between Democrats and Republicans, but is bothered that Franken didn't either admit to what he did or fight it. As it is, it can be too easily dismissed as a political move. The women deserve to be taken seriously and not just end up as pawns within some partisan strategy.

Update (December 8):  Despite an out-of-the-blue resignation by a Republican member of Congress, Sophia Tesfaye doesn't expect Democrats to immediately benefit from the "morality gap" with Republicans.

Democrats will lose the game of moral high-ground chicken with the unscrupulous — in the short term. Look no further than last year’s presidential election for proof. Doing the right thing will do little to persuade those who have repeatedly demonstrated that they are shameless. Still, Republicans’ bad behavior is not a pass for Democratic indifference. Standing up for what is right and refusing to tolerate sexual harassment is not only the principled position, there’s evidence that it will eventually be a winning electoral strategy.

Update (December 9):  Lucian Truscott responds.

[B]eing able to shame Republicans assumes Republicans are capable of shame, and there is scant evidence of that.

Update (December 10):  Paul Rosenberg argues Senate Democrats made a mistake.

By abandoning the investigative path Franken himself agreed to, and demanding his ouster, they were "virtue-signaling" — which is the GOP's brand — rather than thinking through and laying out a practical problem-solving approach, which is (or at least was, in theory) the Democratic brand.

He cites a tweet from Norman Ornstein:

Franken Standard: no ethics process, same punishment for actions taken before coming to the Senate, w/o coercive action of employer harassing or assaulting staff or interns, all behavior treated same as serial assault. No deliberation, calibration. You might be glad. I am not.

Concluding:

Had the Democratic senators chosen to focus on revising the process as an immediate demand, they could have profoundly engaged with the movement at a crucial point in its growth and evolution. With or without the cooperation of Republicans, they could hold field hearings across the country — in addition to social media engagement — and help stimulate similar processes of fixing broken systems that exist almost everywhere when it comes to sexual harassment. A truly incredible organizing moment has been missed, virtually without anyone even noticing it existed in the first place.

Update (December 12):  This is how Fuckface defends himself against a call to resign due to sexual harassment allegations.

Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office "begging" for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against [von Clownstick].

Update (December 13):  A USA Today editorial responds.

A president who’d all but call a senator a whore is unfit to clean toilets in Obama’s presidential library or to shine George W. Bush’s shoes.

Update (May 7, 2018):  It continues to cut both ways--the Democratic New York Attorney General has resigned due to physical abuse allegations.

Update (June 16, 2018):  A study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine finds that sexual harassment has little to do with individual bad behavior and more to do with "organizational climate".

If employees believe that their organization takes harassment seriously, then harassment is less likely to happen. That faith in fair treatment acts as a deterrent against bad actors and encourages workers to speak up about harassment ― key to keeping bad behavior at bay.  

Update (June 24, 2019):  I have to admit I wasn't sure why the story is coming out now rather than, say, when it could've mattered before the election. But Amanda Marcotte explains why E. Jean Carroll's account of how Fuckface von Clownstick raped her is either ignored or attacked.

[T]here's no number of rape accusations, no number of taped confessions, no amount of evidence against [this fucking asshole] that will turn his base against him. Because they don't believe he's innocent. They just don't care if he's guilty. And they think women who speak out about sexual violence are being spoilsports.

Update (July 13, 2019):  And another storm over an ethically-challenged cabinet secretary who cut an illegal deal with the child rapist Jeffrey Epstein several years ago. But Lucian Truscott sums up the salient point:

I really wonder what everyone is doing getting their dander up about this disgusting sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, when we’ve got one in the White House.

There's just no end to the sleaze of these assholes.

Update (July 14, 2019):  Bob Hennelly suggests the arc of justice bends toward wealth.

These great white men are their own law. They see themselves as the smartest guys in the room. They have the cunning to know how to hollow out others so that they can own their souls.

Update (September 16, 2019):  Amanda Marcotte argues that the fact a Supreme Court justice perjured himself to Congress doesn't matter to Republicans.

The culture wars aren't really about facts and evidence, but about values. Conservatives essentially view sexism as right and good, or at least as an immovable fact that's not worth fussing over.

There's a reason conservatives hide behind false claims that they don't believe accusers: Admitting that they simply don't care about sexual assault can alienate some voters.

Facts are good, but ultimately this is a debate about values. It's about whether we want to be a society where male dominance is so locked in that men can assault women (or other men) without accountability, or whether we want some degree of justice.

Update (October 9, 2019):  A book by Barry Levine and Monique El-Faizy called All the President's Women: [Fuckface von Clownstick] and the Making of a Predator details 43 new accusations of misconduct (26 of which described a "unwanted sexual contact"). The only real question is how many more have been unreported so far.